Archive for May, 2009

It was a cool windy day, with possible afternoon showers, so instead of biking, I went for a short hike on the Taconic Crest Trail north of Petersburg Pass. There are several named summits that the actual trail skirts to one side or the other, and I decided to bushwhack these and see what I would find.

There was this nice open view to the west before I left the trail for the bushwhack to White Rocks.

It’s a steep summit to the east of the trail as the trail descends sharply and then reclimbs to the ridge. There were no views, and very little reason to ever return here, now that it’s been ‘burgered.

Returning to the trail, I continued on along the ridge. The woods were very lush, with ferns and Canada mayflowers everywhere.

Leaving the trail again, I headed for the summit of Smith Hill, once known as Jim Smith Hill on earlier maps. In the open meadows of the summit, laurel was in bloom, along with another low shrub with white flowers. And of course, the blooms of blueberries to come. Here I consumed the day’s second cheeseburger.

I left the summit without using the compass, thinking I knew where I was going, and eventually found myself descending the Birch Brook Trail down the Massachusetts side of the ridge, not what I wanted to do. As I climbed back to the ridge, an eastern coyote darted across the trail not 50 yards ahead of me. These guys are reclusive, and I felt lucky to have seen one.

Finally back on the main TCT on the ridge, the setting was almost park-like, in stark contrast to the brutal winter conditions of my previous visit.

Finally, I headed for the summit known erroneously to the USGS as “TheSnow Hole”. It’s the 697-meter bump on the ridge shown on the map above. Locally, everyone knows that the “Snow Hole” is actually a deep fissure in the rock that has snow at the bottom even in the middle of summer. Its actual location is also shown on the map above. The mislabelled summit had no view whatsoever, but I downed the third burger of the day here.

Having been to the real Snow Hole numerous times, and with time getting short, I now headed back to the car along the trail. It had been a nicer day than expected, and I had also largely avoided the hordes of people out enjoying the main trail.

We’d been seeing the Wind River Range ever since getting north of Kemmerer, WY (home of the J.C. Penney mother store) and were looking for a suitable Cheeseburger summit.

We wanted something a lot easier than the snow-covered 13,000+ ft. peaks of the range so we aimed the car for Trapper’s Point – the site of many previous Cheeseburger summits (see here and here). After a bit of dirt road and a short hike we celebrated the summit.

You want more proof? How about a photo of the summit marker? Good enough?

Wimpy and I gave it a good try – but we fell about 100 ft short. A 5 am start time greeted us for an attempt on The Obelisk. The Obelisk lies between Maybird Gulch and Hogum’s Fork in Little Cottonwood Canyon. As you might guess, we wanted to eat a Cheeseburger on its summit. We began at the White Pine Trailhead and after slogging through the wet snow for a while we got a glimpse of its Northeast Ridge – our destination.

After wandering up Red Pine Canyon and then through Maybird Gulch we arrived at the base of the ridge. Without crampons and ice axes we were not up to the ascent. Here’s wimpy at our high point:

The weather was getting nasty too.

After a quick descent we looked back and could see how close we had come to the summit ridge.

The hike out in the soft snow was punishing but we were treated to a lovely view of Broad Fork Twins on the other side of Little Cottonwood Canyon.

I had just made the reservations to Aruba and googled “Aruba mountain”….Mt Hooiberg @560feet. Although, only the second highest point on the Island, it is the best paved.

The plan was unveiled and the excitement grew as the big day loomed as did the mountain as it taunted, it can be seen from anywhere on the island. Burgers were ordered via room service and delivered with dinner the night before the big climb. The entire Groovy family, all four of us, got up early (5:30am) after a restless night sleep produced by groovy boy….must have been the anticipation of the upcoming summit. Not quite an alpine start, but definitely before the hot Aruban sun blistered us on the morning of Groovy Mom’s BIG Birthday. The path is well marked (understatement), as there are 561 steps to the top, where some old communications towers are. On the way up you hike through some very nice Cactus forest and some very pretty turquoise lizards were sunning themselves.

The summit was made without incident. Due to haze, there was no view to Venezuela as advertised. Cheese burgers were consumed by Groovy Dad, Mom and Girl. As you can see, the original Groovy kids came along as well. A quick return to the beach and turquoise waters is in order to cool down.

Finding a cheeseburger in Paris at 9am has its challenges. Yet, if you are flexible, it can be found. Groovy Dad and a new Cheese burger sumitter, “Happy Guy”, found a version of Parisian “bistek” sandwich that looks l a lot like a grilled Panini. It can be found premade in a cold box which they take out and then press it in a Panini grill to heat it up and melt the lovely cheese. The fact that the Burger is square does not take away from its loveliness. Our goal was in site…..The Cathedral on top of Mountmartre (a hill 130 meters high). With a roller suit case in “Happy Guys” hands, we made it to the funicular for a ride to nearly the top.

The area of Montmartre looks grandly out over all of Paris. The name “Montmartre” comes from “Mont des Martyrs” (the bishop St. Denis, the priest Rustique, and the archdeacon Eleuthère were all decapitated there around the year 250). In the 12th century, Benedictine monks built a monastery near Rue des Abesses. It later became the seat of a powerful abbey. “Cheese burgers” were consumed in the hazy morning air before a walk down from the summit.

Last week SirloinofBeef (SLOB) and I were discussing a good training hike for our planned ascent of the Grand Teton in August. In our discussions, we realized that neither of us had eaten a Cheeseburger atop Mount Olympus. In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus is commonly known as the home of the gods. However, much more importantly, in Cheeseburger mythology it is also the name of a 50 pound Cheeseburger at the Clinton Station Diner in Clinton New Jersey.

So early Saturday morning, we met at SLOBs house and set off for the trailhead. Probably the easiest way to find the trailhead is to take Wasatch Blvd to about 5600 South and then look for the small turnoff just below Pete’s Rock. Pete’s Rock is a popular bouldering and climbing hunk of quartzite that is perched above the parking lot and trailhead for Mount Olympus. The hike to the
South summit of Olympus is only about three and a quarter miles in length, but rises over four thousand feet and is south facing. Thus it behooves any potential summiteers to start early and bring water. For this journey SLOB was weighted down with his new Digital SLR and cool lenses, while I was weighted down by my not so new or cool beer belly. The trail to the saddle below the summit is straightforward, From the saddle to the final summit, you will need to make sure that you are on the correct trail. The final piece of trail to the summit does require a bit of 3rd class scrambling, but has almost no exposure. The summit itself provided us with stunning views of the Salt Lake Valley, the great salt lake and the surrounding Wasatch and Oquirrh Ranges. In the distance, we were also able to see Deseret Peak and the Stansbury Range. The summit ridge still had a partial covering of snow which provided a comfortable short walk to the high point (marked by a mail box serving as a summit registry). SLOB was eager to test out his new camera, so he spent the next few minutes snapping pictures of the incredible views while I chose to eat my delightful Cheeseburger. The eventual hike down was uneventful except for the amazing number of hikers coming up the trail.

I made this hike on Saturday May 9, 2009. It was a planned hike sponsored by Cartersville-Bartow County CVB, Cartersville Parks & Rec. and Swheat Market. We were joined by authors Ren & Helen Davis of ‘Best Hikes Near Atlanta’. The hike was featuring not only the view from the top but the blooming Mountain Laurel. We reached the summit following the East Loop trail. Total distance was approx. 3.1 miles and an elevation change of 680 ft. There is a concrete post listing an elevation of 1562 ft. at the summit. The group consisted of 17 people from ages 4yr. to 70’s. I was the only one with a cheeseburger so of course there were many questions. I was also able to find a few geocaches along the way along with a benchmark at the summit. I may have managed to add a few more cheeseburger consumers to the cause. Another nice added feature is the placement of emergency phones on the trail. This is the first time I have seen that.